Sunday, January 17, 2010

Washington Man Cleared of Gun Charges

LONGVIEW, Wash. -- A Longview man who pulled a gun on bouncers at a local bar has been found not guilty of second-degree assault.

A jury determined that 29-year-old Brian Adam Barnd-Spjut acted in self-defense on the night of March 28.

A security video showed bouncers from Kesler's Bar and Grill hauling the man down the bar's hallway toward a back alley. When thrust into an alley, he spun around and pointed the gun at three bouncers and the bar manager.

Barnd-Spjut, who has a concealed weapons permit, says he displayed the gun because he feared the bouncers would beat him up.

I don't know about anybody else, but I've never seen bouncers take someone out to the back alley by force unless that person was doing some serious acting out in the bar. So, is it safe to assume there was some altercation inside the place before Brian Adam Barnd-Spjut had to protect himself with the gun? Would that have anything to do with this, do you think?

Is this case an example of why the law permitting concealed carry in bars is good? What if he'd shot and killed one of the bouncers? Would that have been justified? Is fear of a beating a good enough reason to kill someone? Is fear of a beating a good enough reason to draw the gun? I didn't think the 4 Rules contained one about preventing a beating or keeping the bouncers at bay. I mean, how far are we going to stretch the "lethal threat" excuse?

1 comment:

The bar manager was a friend of Barnd-Spjut, and testified for the defense. Barnd-Spjut was looking for his friend. Bouncers insisted that he pay the cover and lied, claiming that the manager wasn't on the premises. One of the witnesses claimed to have been knocked unconscious by bouncers at the bar in an earlier incident.

How do you know that a 3 on 1 beating will stop before it reaches great bodily harm or death? I don't think (and apparently a jury agreed) that drawing is necessarily inappropriate here. If the attack ceased once the gun was drawn, then shooting isn't appropriate.

Cooper's original version includes this in the explanation for Rule 2:

"This rule applies to fighting as well as to daily handling. If you are not willing to take a human life, do not cover a person with the muzzle."